“That’s my goal,” Overeem recently told the
Sherdog Radio Network. “I know that the UFC will not promote me
on their card as long as I’m not licensed. That being said, we’re
going to try to get licensed sooner and I’m confident that I will
succeed.”

Overeem had been scheduled to fight dos Santos in Las Vegas in May,
but a pre-fight drug test revealed that his
testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio was more than double the
Nevada Athletic Commission’s limit. In April the commission voted
to deny Overeem a conditional fight license and prohibited him from
applying again until Dec. 27. He’ll be on the shelf at least until
then, but he said the time off isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“The last few months have actually been calm media-wise, which was
good,” Overeem said. “I moved to Miami. I’m full-time here now and
I got all settled there. I’m still training, always training,
always improving my game. Basically took a small step out of the
limelight, enjoyed life a little bit, did what I wanted to do
because the last five years have been totally crazy … obligation
after obligation, fight preparation after fight prep. It came up to
seven fights a year and at three years consecutively. I’m actually
having some time off now, which I’m enjoying. I’m actually feeling
very well.”

Some fans haven’t been particularly happy with him, though, since
news spread of his elevated T/E ratio. Overeem previously explained
that the ratio was the result of an injection he was prescribed for
lingering injuries and that he had no knowledge it contained
testosterone. Now he wants to prove he’s a clean fighter.

“I’m going to test regularly,” Overeem said. “I’m now the most
tested fighter out there. For me, that’s something I can do, but we
also have to realize that there will always be people who are
negative, who are against me, so to speak. There are also people
who are for me. That’s just the way it goes. I can only do so much,
and if people accept that, that’s fine. If they don’t, that’s also
fine.”

Regardless, Overeem wants to be fighting again by the end of the
year. In the meantime he’s kept his eye on dos Santos, who stopped
Overeem’s replacement, Frank Mir, in
May.

“I think it was good,” Overeem said of dos Santos’ performance. “He
won the fight. He won it dominantly. Other than that, you know, dos
Santos, he’s a good fighter. He’s a champ. I don’t really see that
surprise in his fight style. I think I’m the one to beat him.”

Comments

Related News

If Francis Ngannou wants a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, he might have to go through Alistair Overeem first. The former title contender took to Twitter on Thursday to send a message to the fearsread news >>

It looks like former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo is nearing his return to the Octagon. Aldo is currently targeted to fight in December against top five ranked featherweight Ricardo Lamas in read news >>